UAB @ Auburn
Tuesday: 12-2 W
(Ok, just let me have that one. It was Bark at the Park night and how could I not have that as the lead photo…just look at that face!)
Now there is the Conor Davis we know and love! The sophomore bashed his way to a 3 for 3 outing with 2 walks and 3 RBIs on the evening in Auburn’s 12-2 victory over the Blazers of UAB to complete the season sweep Tuesday night. Davis has been solid overall on the season, batting just under .300 on the year but he and everyone else around the Auburn program was hoping for more production after a stellar freshman campaign. That made Tuesday evening all the more special and something to build on as the 2nd half of the conference season unfolds. Also having a banner night was Elliot Anderson who went 4 innings of no hit baseball, coupled with a walk and 7 strikeouts. The timing is an interesting one for Anderson, who had his coming out party this time last year on the road in Starkville in a shutdown relief performance. The Tigers are hoping he is an arm they can lean on as a set up man to get the came to Cody Greenhill in weekend win situations. Overall, this win was much easier than the previous one in Birmingham but just as, if not even more, important. The Tigers have now won 3 of their last 4 and now they hit the road to take on Alabama. It won’t be an easy series by any stretch but its one Auburn can get a series win against. That said the Tigers will need it as the rest of the weekend opponents have a tiny number by their name and it starts the following weekend at #1 Florida.
Around the League
Jacksonville @ #1 Florida, TUE 8-4 L
Well now that is completely unexpected. Don’t get me wrong, the Dolphins have a solid ball club that can beat you on any given night, but that ‘you’ isn’t Florida…I mean I guess it is but that’s not the ‘you’ I meant!
Missouri State @ #4 Arkansas, TUE 11-7 W
Much better win that it looks on the first read. The Bears are a solid top 30ish team and with a streak, could host a regional. Hogs are on a roll as long as they don’t have to take on Ole Miss or Florida.
Arkansas State @ #8 Ole Miss, WED 10-3 W
Red Wolves prove no match for the Rebels.
Evansville @ #9 Vanderbilt, TUE 6-1 W
Add Purple Aces and Dores to the above statement.
#10 Kentucky @ Louisville, TUE 8-2 L
Huge win for the Cards who have had the exact same season Auburn has had. I wouldn’t worry too much if I were a Cats fan though. A tough test awaits at the Cliff in the person…or team…of the now angry Florida Gators.
#14 Clemson @ #21 Georgia, TUE 6-1 W
Make it a 2-0 season sweep for the Dawgs over Cousin Clem. That is a huge statement win and something the Selection Committee won’t forget when discussing the Top 16 if Georgia keeps hanging around the place they are now…
Texas State @ #17 Texas A&M, TUE 7-5 W
The Bobcats from San Marcos are a tough team as most of the teams in Texas are so this is a win and get out kind of game for the Aggies.
#20 LSU @ Tulane, WED 10-9 L
Now that is a tough loss. You always hate to drop to the instate team but its ratchetted up a touch more for this rivalry.
Alabama
- vs Samford, TUE 6-0 L
- vs Alcorn State, WED 3-0 W
Excellent, the Tide gets roughed up against a “making a good post season case” Samford squad and then gets fed a cupcake before Casey Mize rolls in to town.
Tennessee @ East Tennessee St, TUE 6-2 W
Tennessee gets the job done when they should.
Presbyterian @ South Carolina, TUE 7-4 L
That might be the nail in Carolina’s post season hopes. Don’t get me wrong there is still time and they have plenty of opportunities to right the ship but that is a loss they definitely did not need to take at home.
Chicago State @ Missouri, TUE 5-3 W
Solid win for the boys from CoMo.
Mississippi State @ Memphis, WED 6-1 L
Poor Mississippi State. Also a loss they didn’t need to take for post season hopes. You have to feel for them and now we completely can, as it doesn’t look like a trip to Hoover is in the cards for them. How fast a year can go from Omaha bound to rebuild for next season.
Composite Top 25
1. Florida
2. Stanford
3. NC State
4. Arkansas
5. Texas Tech
6. Oregon State
7. Duke
8. Ole Miss
9. Vanderbilt
10. Kentucky
11. Indiana
12. UCLA
13. East Carolina
14. Clemson
15. North Carolina
16. Southern Miss
17. Texas A&M
18. Oklahoma
19. Florida State
20. LSU
21. Georgia
22. Coastal Carolina
23. Texas
24. Michigan
25. Wichita State
Regional Watch
We have 2 projections to look at and both look a lot alike:
D1baseball.com
1. #7 East Carolina
2. Auburn
3. College of Charleston
4. Wright State
Baseball America
1. #8 East Carolina
2. Auburn
3. Washington
4. Canisius
These two projections are workable for Auburn much like last weekend, both CoC and Washington have the offense that could give the Auburn staff outside of Casey Mize problems, however if you decide to go Burns or Andrew Mitchell (I go Burns with a side of Elliott Anderson and a splash of Cody Greenhill) and get to the winners bracket, I have to like my chances with ECU even in Greenville. Should the Tigers get out of this round and they would either go to Chapel Hill (D1) or to Nashville (BA, please let this happen so I can have an Auburn Super Regional in my backyard!)
On Deck (With SEC Weekend Series Schedule)
#1 Florida @ #10 Kentucky (THU-SAT)
#9 Vanderbilt @ Missouri (THU-SAT)
#17 Texas A&M @ Tennessee (FRI-SUN)
#20 LSU @ South Carolina (FRI-SUN)
#21 Georgia @ #8 Ole Miss (FRI-SUN)
#4 Arkansas @ Mississippi State (FRI-SUN)
Auburn @ Alabama (FRI-SUN)
Solid weekend lineup with 2 major headliners. It begins in a few hours with Singer vs Helli in Lexington and continues tomorrow as the Dawgs go traveling to Oxford to take on Ole Miss in what should be a war of a series. You have to feel bad to Mississippi State, after dropping the series to Auburn in 1 inning, they host the 2nd or 3rd best team in the conference, which means they are top 5 in the country, Arkansas Razorbacks. Perhaps the Bulldogs can capture the lightning they found a few weeks back when they hosted Ole Miss. The main series of the weekend however is the Iron Series in Tuscaloosa. Casey Mize is on the mound so if Auburn can get a couple of runs they should be good as they always should be on Friday nights. Following that it is a get it done for one or hopefully two as wins begin to become even more precious this time of year. Auburn can win this series, but a sweep would be even more sweet after what happened last year in Auburn (which we will not speak of).